The South African ruling party - African National Congress (ANC) - announced its support on Tuesday for embattled President Jacob Zuma, who has been under fire for financial turmoil and corruption in the country.
Thousands of "Zuma Must Fall" campaigners marched in cities across South Africa on Wednesday, demanding Zuma's resignation. The hashtag #ZumaMustFall continues to be among top trends on Twitter.
The protests had been triggered by the president's decision to remove Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene and replace him with the little known MP Des van Rooyen.
Nene's removal on Dec. 9 caused jitters at the market, sending the national currency rand falling to record lows of R16 to the U.S. dollar and massive loss in market capitalization, according to Independent Online. The financial turmoil forced Zuma to appoint a new finance minister Pravin Gordhan - the finance minister from 2009 to 2014 - on Sunday night.
"When Zuma got rid of Nhlanhla Nene without giving an explanation, the rand fell and that is not the way to rule. With him as president we are suffering. We don't have water and electricity, but people keep voting for him," a protestor told rekordeast.
The ruling ANC party backed Zuma in wake of nationwide protests.
"The president did consult the national officials of the ANC about six weeks ago on the request by Brics regional bank for a nominee from South Africa to lead the regional bank of Brics and he explained that it was his own view that one would need to send somebody with a high statute and Minister Nene at the time fitted what was appropriate for the bank," the party's Deputy Secretary General Jessie Duarte told reporters, according to News24.
ANC also claimed the poor attendance at the protest marches showed that the majority of South Africans supported Zuma's decision to appoint a new finance minister.
